Farmers and ranchers in Montana have been struggling with a 50 percent decline in net farm income over the past four years. And while profits are extremely hard to come by, the recently passed tax reform bill likely won’t help these woes for family farmers. In fact, there are even changes under the new law that farmers should be downright concerned over. Farmers Union opposed the bill, now law, not only because of individual provisions but also because the broader implications of adding $1.5 trillion, by Congress’ own admission, to the debt.

The bill also stood to do some serious damage to agricultural cooperatives by eliminating the Section 199 deduction, which allowed cooperatives to pass on nearly $2 billion to their farmer patrons each year. Not only did cooperatives not gain any benefits from corporate reform, but they stood to lose valuable deductions they previously enjoyed. Luckily, Congress added the Deduction for Qualified Business Income of Pass-through Entities, or Sec. 199a, shortly before passage. The provision was a small step towards providing equity resulting from massive corporate tax breaks.

Cooperatives play an important economic role in Montana and Montana Farmers Union has been a staunch advocate of these businesses for more than a hundred years. Montana is home to 96 cooperatives with annual revenues of $2.19 billion. They provide 4,480 full-time jobs with $361 million in salaries. And they provide $37.6 million to the state budget from taxes paid.

Farmers and ranchers have long understood the importance of cooperatives. Local ownership ensures that money stays in its respective community, any profit that is not reinvested is returned to its owner-members, which is central to our local economies. Yet for all the benefit that coops provide, they are now under attack in Washington.

Multinational grain corporations are arguing that agricultural cooperatives’ 199a deduction is too generous. One almost must laugh that corporations, who just received a permanent 40 percent reduction in their taxes are looking to repeal a temporary tax cut that benefits farmers, ranchers, and their communities.

But even if it's laughable, it’s no joke that cooperatives face a serious threat. Grain corporations are expending vast resources to repeal Sec. 199a. It represents the worst in corporate culture today. Companies such as ADM and Cargill made $2.6 billion and $1.64 billion in operating profit last year respectively. They just received one of the largest tax cuts in history, and it’s still not enough.

Farmers Union rejects attempts to repeal this credit and instead stands with Montana cooperatives. We call on Congress to not only protect Sec. 199a, but to make it permanent so that our coops are one step closer to standing on equal terms to multinational grain corporations. We urge the Montana congressional delegation to hold strong for the good of our state and our local communities.